


Organs: the "Little Talks" Remix

by truthtakestime



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Come At Me, Friendship, Gen, Growing Up, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Series, Roommates, relationships, yes i remixed my own fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 19:04:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17903777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/truthtakestime/pseuds/truthtakestime
Summary: If Cam is the head of the team, then she is the heart of them.





	Organs: the "Little Talks" Remix

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Little Talks](https://archiveofourown.org/works/743695) by [truthtakestime](https://archiveofourown.org/users/truthtakestime/pseuds/truthtakestime). 



> Yes, I remixed my own fic, shhhhhh. The original is one of my favorite things I have done, even though sometimes I also go back and skim through it and cringe a little. It's all part of growing up, right? I did this mostly to get the other side, and also because I wanted another take at those cringe-y bits. I think I did okay. 
> 
> Um some vague TW: I allude very vaguely to... I guess it's technically rape? It's very non-explicit and brief and not really enough for the big warning tag, but I am always nervous that I'll unintentionally trigger someone. So I'm sorry about that. 
> 
> (The title is from a Monsters and Men song, to kind of match up with the first title and also because "she is the heart".)

_ {August} _   
  
Vala is not quite as confident as she pretends to be when she brings up the idea of moving in with Colonel Mitchell. For one thing, she understands that it’s a pretty big request; for another, she’s afraid it will come off as sexual somehow. Which would usually be a fair assumption whether she is serious or not; innuendo is what people expect of her and so it’s the face she presents to the public. But for once she really needs to be taken seriously.    
  
To her surprise, Cam  _ does _ take her seriously, and more quickly than she expects him to. He doesn’t even seem entirely opposed to the idea.    
  
“Just one question, though why me? Why not Daniel or Teal’c?”    
  
Because neither of them are lost in the way that Cam sometimes seems and Vala always feels. They don’t struggle with their place in this organisation. They don’t constantly have to second guess every interaction, wondering if the proffered respect is genuine. And honestly, Cam is the only person that Vala doesn’t wonder where she stands with. He always says it exactly like it is.   
  
All of this is far too much to admit out loud, of course. Vala is still trying to make sense of it all in her head. So she gives him some BS answer about everybody’s lives being too busy to include a roommate, and hopes he doesn’t dig deeper.    
  
He doesn’t, but Vala catches a look of surprised pride on his face before he gets called off for some other more pressing issue. He actually seems pleased at the idea that she’s chosen him.    
  
\--   
  
Vala moves in on a Thursday. They rope Teal’c into helping them and he somehow convinces General O’Neill to join the party. Daniel is away, which gives her a load of mixed feelings. She wishes he was here to be a part of things. But on the other hand, a part of her relishes the space. It’s an uneasy contradiction.    
  
Amid continued friendly complaints about the amount of possession she’s accumulated, and a series of vague pop culture references from Teal’c about moving (he shouts the word “pivot!” a lot), they manage to get all of her things upstairs in what Vala thinks is very good time. They celebrate their success with pizza and cheap beer, and talk for hours about nothing in particular. By the end Jack is not fit to drive, so he crashes at the apartment for the night. Teal’c stays too, though Vala suspects that he is perfectly capable of getting himself back to the base at any time.    
  
It hardly matters to her. She likes that he cares enough about them all to stay.    
  
\--   
  
Moving day is a convenient precursor to a rare week off for SG1. Vala and Cam paint her room and start a small fire in the toaster.    
  
The little oven is replaced with a list of nearby takeout places.    
  
\--   
  
“Is this whole situation starting to feel a little  _ domestic _ to you?” Cam asks somewhere during week two and beer number five.    
  
Vala laughs at him, but she also takes his beer.    
  
\--   
  
When Daniel sends word that he’s extending his research time, SG1 goes back into the field without him. They are also without Sam, who is busy with her shiny new command on the  _ Hammond _ , which makes things both harder and easier. With the two of them gone at once Vala feels like the change is temporary, that they’re simply at a conference and will be back soon. She doesn’t have to think about how much she’ll  _ really _ miss Sam’s company, or how frustratingly absent Daniel has been even before his little trip.    
  
On the proper upside, missions do seem easier in a different way, now. Living with Cam has improved their communication considerably. They flow well. And there are all sorts of little stories and references they’ve accumulated that enable them to talk without saying anything plainly. Shared history, however brief, is a real asset to their teamwork.    
  
Teal’c does not share the background of their references, but he picks up the gist of things very quickly. And when all goes to hell he fits right in as he always has, filling in their gaps nicely.    
  
Landry is pissed about the Incident, and so is Dr. Lam. But they haven’t permanently damaged anyone and they’ve all come back alive, so Vala thinks it’s a win. Even if they do get assigned a Marine for the remainder of Daniel’s absence.    
  
Cameron is grinning at her when General Landry leaves the infirmary. “Hey, nice job out there, Princess.”    
  
The nickname should be condescending, but from Cam it isn’t, and she grins back.    
  
_ {September} _   
  
It’s nearly a month before Daniel returns. Vala is thrilled, but that initial excitement quickly turns back into frustration as he is even more distant and distracted than he’d been before. She doesn’t  _ get _ him sometimes. For a while they had been doing so well, and then all of a sudden it was like he had shut himself off, lost all interest in her. They don’t talk like they used to.    
  
Vala has never been blind to the level of their relationship, for all she’s pretended otherwise; but she’d thought they were friends. What could have changed?   
  
“Why are you like this?” she asks him one day out of desperation. All of her go-to tactics have failed, leaving her with nothing but raw, honest truth.    
  
Daniel barely looks up from the text he’s studying. “That’s an awfully broad and manipulative question,” he says. But his tone tells her that he isn’t totally  _ there _ , much like he hasn’t been for a while now. And if she can’t have his full attention for this conversation, then it’s really just a waste of breath.    
  
“Oh, what’s the point?” she huffs, stomping out of his office. She needs to get off this base. She needs to get  _ drunk _ , which is a task and a half thanks to her former symbiote. But she’s sick and tired of the lack of attention she’s receiving from the man that until recently she would have called her closest friend. And since she’s grown accustomed to sharing her problems with Daniel, his absence means that she has to find solace some other way.    
  
Alcohol seems to work for everyone else on this planet. Surely she can find something that even her goa’uld-altered genetics can’t handle.    
  
\--    
  
Vala isn’t sure what she drinks, just that she consumes a  _ lot _ of it. It’s enough to make her unsteady on her feet, and put a slur on her words, which is as much as she can hope for tonight.    
  
“Hey babe. You wanna get out of here?”    
  
The guy is big and blond and very bad at hiding the lust in his eyes. Vala doesn’t care. She  _ should _ \-- she used to -- but she’s pissed and lonely and she’ll take what she can get tonight. At least this guy  _ wants _ her. She can handle herself.    
  
Smiling, she presses a teasing kiss to the corner of his mouth. “Lead the way, big boy.”    
  
They end up in a sleazy motel that reminds Vala of a great many less-than-reputable inns she’s stayed in off-world. The guy is sloppy drunk, and she is still sufficiently buzzed. That’s good, because she doesn’t think she could go through with this if she was sober. Despite her cavalier attitude in public, sex isn’t something she takes lightly at all. Qetesh ruined that for her for good.    
  
They never get that far, anyways. Colonel Mitchell breaks down the door and slams a fist into the guy’s face, laying him out cold.    
  
The alcohol in Vala’s system is rapidly wearing off, and she takes advantage of the clarity to be mad at Cameron. How dare he interrupt her? She had worked hard to get to this point! “Do you know how long it took me to get drunk enough to do this?” she demands, shoving him in the chest. “I wanted this!”    
  
The look he gives her is grave disappointment, and it cuts her. This is a new realization. She’s never thought that she cared either way for his approval until now, when she’s apparently lost it.    
  
But that is just par for the course, it seems. First Daniel, and now Cam. She is well on her way to alienating everyone that she cares about. At least with Cam she knows it’s her own fault.    
  
They don’t talk in the car. She turns on the radio and stares out the window and Cam makes no effort to break the silence. It’s just as well. Vala doesn’t think she can handle any more rejection right now.    
  
As soon as they get home, she gets in the shower. The liquored haze has mostly worn off now, leaving her aching with shame over her actions. What had seemed like revenge when she was drunk seems pathetic and desperate now, and she wants to wash that dirty feeling off of her skin.    
  
It doesn’t scrub away. But eventually her body numbs to it and the water turns lukewarm. She gets out and grabs the first two items of clothing in the laundry bin. The shorts are speckled with paint from her walls, and she’s grabbed one of Cameron’s shirts by mistake. She puts it on anyways, taking comfort in the too-large garment. Maybe she can hide in it.    
  
Cameron is still annoyingly awake when she emerges into the kitchen, and he’s made her tea in her favorite mug. He doesn’t say anything, just hands her the tea and sits down at the table to wait.    
  
Vala can see what he’s trying to do. And she hates that it’s working, but patience has never been her strong suit and she breaks first in spite of herself.    
  
“I did want it,” she admits softly, because that’s what he’s looking for. A sober confession.    
  
To Vala’s surprise, Cameron doesn’t blow up at her angrily. He looks… sad. Sad and confused, which is not at all the reaction that she is expecting.    
  
“Why?”    
  
She can’t answer that. Even if she had the words to explain it, Vala doubts that she has it in herself to say them out loud. She changes topics instead, murmuring the story about how she can’t really get drunk. That’s easier. That’s  _ facts _ , which are different than  _ feelings _ . Facts are safer. Facts don’t require a great emotional output to share. She can be detached and calm, simply stating recognized information instead of going into the thought processes of why things are true.    
  
When she’s done, Cameron looks nearly as sad about her inability to get drunk as anything else. “That  _ sucks _ .”    
  
“Yes, it does.” But she’s used to it by now. Just one more thing she can’t shake.    
  
He breaks out the ice cream, maybe as a sort of consolation. That does seem to be a recognized Earth ritual for sadness. She has to admit that it’s a comfortable one. Maybe too comfortable. When Cam asks why she chose the guy at the motel, she answers without thinking, “Because it’s what I’m worth.”    
  
Cameron is pissed. No, he’s  _ livid _ , but still not at her. His anger seems directed at the goa’uld, at the blond guy, at Daniel, at  _ himself _ , though she can’t imagine why. There’s no use going around the universe blaming everyone else for her problems, and least of all himself. She’s come to terms with her lot in life, though apparently he has not.    
  
“Listen, Vala,  _ you are not worthless _ . You are so, so important. I would have been lost without you.”    
  
For some reason that makes her cry, though it shouldn’t. And when he draws her in to comfort her she doesn’t pull away, even though she should. But it’s very tiring to maintain the walls she puts up, and it feels so good to let it go even just for a few moments.    
  
She loves Cameron for that. Not in the way that she loves Daniel -- she still does love Daniel, flaws and all -- but she has never had a real friend like him before, someone who is there for her and yet expects nothing in return. And she is grateful.    
  


\--   
  
“Hey, Princess, I got us the day off. Told the General that we needed a “mental health day”. Dunno  _ why _ he bought it, but we’re in the clear!”    
  
Vala grins at him. “Let’s do therapy shopping!”    
  
_ {October} _   
  
No one is more surprised than Vala when Cameron takes her suggestion over Daniel’s in the field.   
  
“You know, I think that Vala’s right about this one.”    
  
She blinks. “Really?”    
  
So does Daniel. “Really?”    
  
“Yes, really.” Cam gives them both a Look. “Look, I’m only speaking English here; isn’t that like, one of the easiest languages you know?”    
  
Teal’c raises an eyebrow, and Daniel shrugs in defeat. Cam stands a little straighter and leads the way.    
  
Later, Cam admits to her that he’s spent most of his Stargate Program career desperate for the approval of the original team. He’s had a few beers when he says this, and she’s learned that when he’s in this state it’s best to let him talk himself out. He rambles about losing sleep and feeling like a kid trying to make his parents proud and how he doesn’t really feel that anymore, and something about the two of them being the team “underdogs”. Which Vala finds to be a particularly nonsensical bit of Earth slang.    
  
“Underdogs? When have either of us ever been trapped beneath canines…?”   
  
“It’s an  _ expression _ , Vala. Don’t over-think it.”    
  
She over-thinks it, of course. But in the end it works out. A week later Cam brings home a rescue dog that they name Jackson, and they teach him commands. She has too much fun with that bit.    
  
“Now at least there’s one Jackson in the universe who will listen to us,” Cam laughs.    
  
_ {November} _   
  
Thanksgiving with the team and Cam’s parents is a beautiful thing. His mother is still quietly convinced that Vala is going to end up as her daughter-in-law, but she doesn’t push it. She teaches Vala to make pie and they join forces in betting on football after dinner. (They win, naturally.) Vala decides that she’s rather fond of Earth holidays.    
  
She insists on decorating for Christmas the minute they get back to Colorado Springs.    
  
_ {December} _   
  
Getting kidnapped does not factor well into Vala’s holiday plans. In fact, she’s rather pissed about the rubbish timing. This is supposed to be her first Christmas on Earth, and she’s done  _ research _ ! Presents and cookies and decorations and  _ mistletoe _ . How dare a rogue group of mercenaries get it in their heads to screw the whole thing up?

  
But holiday plans turn out to be the least of her worries when Vala realizes what these men plan to do with her. It’s worse than being burned alive. They want information, but they are going to torture her and use her up until there’s nothing left of her to save. (It never occurs to her that the team won’t try to save her.)    
  
In desperation, she retreats into the small safe space she had crafted in her mind while she had been a host, to bide her time until rescue comes. At some point, she loses all awareness of the outside world.    
  
Rescue does come, though she does not realize it at once for how far she’s retreated. It takes almost a week for her to fully make her way back out. Her eyes open on he worried faces of SG1, and she knows at once that they haven’t left her side. Their presence tells her all she needs to know about her safety, and so she puts all thoughts of what she’s been through in the deepest corner of her mind where she won’t have to bother with them for a while and allows herself a frivolous wonder. “Did I miss Christmas?”    
  
The question provokes smiles all around, as it is meant to. Cam promises that they’ll make a day of it once she’s healed up. He further makes up for it by staying with her when Dr. Lam thwarts a plan by General O’Neill and Sam to smuggle everyone out of the infirmary and take them to dinner, and by letting her indulge in another Tau’ri holiday tradition and kiss him at midnight for New Years.    
  
For all of their many flaws, the Tau’ri really go above and beyond with kissing rituals for their holidays.    
  
_ {February} _   
  
After the holidays, when Vala is mostly healed and Sam and Jack have gone back to their respective postings, life goes back to normal. At least, on the surface it does. But underneath everything feels tense and cracking. Vala puts on her best smile, but shows up to therapy three times a week at General Landry’s orders. She puts on makeup to hide the dark circles under her eyes borne of nightmares. And she can see that the others are anxious too, Cam just shy of paranoid and Daniel hyper-vigilant. Teal’c never lets them out of his sight.    
  
It seems that they are all on edge after what had happened. Which is fair enough, but Vala would prefer if everyone is… less on edge. It is not good for her already damaged emotional state to see everyone else falling apart. It may be selfish, but she wants them to be okay. She is counting on them.    
  
She gives Cameron a talking to, at the very least. He’s been quietly beating himself up for getting comfortable and somehow failing her, and that’s a load of rubbish. No one is to blame for what happened, and she’s not going to let him feel guilty because  _ somewhere _ in the galaxy some people are still bastards. Someone else’s stupidity should not cause him to question his own leadership.    
  
He proves himself to her again by buying wine and chocolate for Valentine’s Day, possibly the most important Tau’ri kissing festival of them all. (She can’t help but notice that Daniel has scheduled another trip over this particular holiday.) If that’s not the mark of a great leader, then she doesn’t know what the hell is.    
  
_ {March} _   
  
Atlantis on Earth doesn’t bother Vala as much as it does Cam. Stuff is a little more hectic, and it does take up an unreasonable amount of Daniel’s time and attention; but it’s not like he’s been paying her much in the way of attention, anyways, and at least the city provides her with a solid variety of diversions to make up for it. Colonel Sheppard is a lot of fun to be around. So the City’s brief stay on Earth is a generally positive experience for her.    
  
_ {June} _   
  
The next big blow-up with Daniel hits her unexpectedly hard.    
  
It is so stupid, and when they’re done fighting Vala can barely even remember what had started the whole thing. Probably him not listening, as usual. He’d been better for a bit after her Ordeal, but had since reverted back to his distant, pre-occupied self, and he isn’t even pretending to try anymore. And she is tired of making a real and proper effort and getting  _ nothing _ .    
  
She drives home fighting tears and definitely not paying attention to posted speed limits, and nearly loses it when she walks in and see’s Cam’s concerned face. This is the night with motel guy all over again, and she can’t handle the pressure of  _ feeling _ right now.    
  
“I want to get drunk again,” she admits, because they’ve reached the point where she can’t imagine  _ not _ telling him. And to his credit, Cam doesn't ask. He grabs his keys and the dog and herds her back outside without question.    
  
They drive into the desert and sit on the warm hood of his pickup, watching the dog explore the few scrubby bushes within sight of the truck. Cam produces a little tub of convenience store ice cream and a plastic spoon. “Do you want to talk about it?”    
  
“Not really.” Vala has done more than enough  _ talking _ about it, and nothing has changed. Right now she just wants to forget.    
  
“Okay.” They sit in silence for a while, Vala lost in her own head.    
  
When Cam kisses her out of the blue, she feels a conflicting rush of emotions. Confusion and shock clash sharply with a more natural positive response; but this isn’t some playful holiday ritual, and it strikes her that he might have crossed a line she hadn’t realized was there.    
  
She pulls away, and he seems as surprised and confused as she is. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I did that. I was way out of line.”    
  
Vala is willing to cut him some slack, considering how often they have indulged in these silly Earth rituals. At least he’s trying. “For what it’s worth, it felt good.”    
  
“But not right?” he guesses. “Yeah, same here.”    
  
They are quiet for a long time. The dog gets bored and falls asleep in the truck. After a while, Cam is the one who can’t stand the silence. (It’s not often Vala can wait him out.) But his words are the protective encouragement of a brother or a best friend, and that feels right. It isn’t the most comfortable advice, but she isn’t sure what she’s looking for at this point anyways. And easy or not his words stick with her.    
  
“If what you are  _ right now _ isn’t enough for him then he isn’t worth it. You shouldn’t have to change yourself for anyone, but least of all him.”    
  
_ {July} _   
  
Teal'c is surprisingly optimistic when the team is captured by the Lucian Alliance. “Is it not fortunate that we have been imprisoned in a single room and not spread throughout the facility?”   
  
“Yeah, just peachy,”    
  
“Aw, come on now, Jackson. Lucian prison facilities are fun! You've just gotta be more open-minded.”   
  
“I know the symbols on these walls. I was imprisoned on this exact same ship when the Goa'uld were still in power.”   
  
“I knew it was a ship!”   
  
“Really? That's what you take away from that statement?   
  
“Cameron and I have an ongoing bet about all the ways that we might get captured. I have ships on my list; isn't that right, love?”   
  
“I thought we agreed to forget about that bet.”   
  
“And I've seen the tally that you keep in your locker. Honestly, you must expect this from me by now.”   
  
“Damn, now I've gotta move that list.”   
  
_ {August} _   
  
“What are you doing tonight?”    
  
Vala blinks in surprise. It’s not often that Daniel seeks her out lately, and certainly not to ask her about her plans. She narrows her eyes suspiciously. “Why?”    
  
“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. I’d like to take you out to dinner, if you’re interested? There’s something that I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”    
  
If Vala had known a year ago that  _ not _ making any effort at all was all it would take to capture Daniel Jackson’s interest… well, she would have had a very different year. “Sure. Seven o’clock”    
  
“That sounds good.”    
  
She goes home early to get ready. Cam doesn’t seem shocked at the news of her date, which makes her think that he might have brought it up to Daniel. That would be cheating. But upon investigation he swears that it was the other way around. “I swear, Jackson approached me and asked if I thought you’d be down. Maybe something finally managed to make it through that thick skull of his. But all I did was tell him to give it a shot. Everything was completely his idea.”    
  
“Well, hopefully tonight marks the beginning of him coming to his senses, then.” 

  
“For you, I hope so. Listen, you wanna just pack up all your stuff now? I can’t imagine you’ll be wanting to come back here after tonight.”    
  
“Oh, Cameron, don’t be ridiculous.” She would never leave him just like that, that would be very rude! And never let it be said about Vala Mal Doran that she doesn’t appreciate a true friendship. “He’s going to have to work for that! I don’t just change my whole life on a whim, you know.” Besides, after all of the waiting that she’s done, Daniel deserves to sweat at least a little. It’s only fair.   
  
\--   
  
“What do you mean, Atlantis?” Vala feels like the rug has been pulled out from under her. “I thought tonight was about wanting to be with me?”    
  
“It is, and I do. But with the City here in Milky Way and just a gate trip away, it’s an amazing opportunity! And I’m sure that you’ll find plenty to do on Atlantis; you adjusted better than anyone while they were here on Earth.”   
  
“Yes. The operative phrase being  _ here on Earth _ .” Vala points out, her voice wobbling more than she’d like. This is  _ not _ what she had been prepared for. “I have just started to really get my footing here, you know. And now you want me to leave? What about being part of SG1?”    
  
“There are gate teams on the City too, you know.”    
  
“But they are not  _ my _ team.” Vala pushes her plate away, her appetite gone. “You can’t honestly be asking me to give up my entire life and follow you to Atlantis on a whim. I worked hard to make a life for myself here!”   
  
“This isn’t a whim, it’s been my dream for a very long time. And it’s a dream that I’d like to share with you! You’re one of the most resilient, adaptable people I know. Doesn’t a new adventure in the City of the Ancients sound even a little bit exciting to you?”    
  
“Maybe at one point, it might have.” Vala’s chest aches, but she still feels  _ right _ in the choice that she’s being forced to make. “But not now. Not like this. I am not going to give up my entire life here for your dreams when you haven’t even  _ listened _ to mine. I have always loved you, Daniel, but I will not have a relationship with you at the expense of having a life, I’m sorry.” She paused. “Actually, I’m not sorry. For once, I haven’t done anything wrong in this situation, and I’m not going to apologize for for you being too late.”    
  
Daniel gives a sad, resigned sort of sigh. “I’m not going to be able to change your mind, am I?”    
  
“No.” She smiles sadly, feeling unreasonably peaceful, and gets to her feet.  “I hope that the City is everything that you dreamed of.”    
  
When she gets home, Cameron’s expression goes from surprised to sympathetic in an instant. He doesn’t ask, but she tells him anyways because he was always going to know.    
  
He sighs. “I’m sorry.”    
  
Maybe Vala should be sorry too, but she finds that she isn’t. As she’d told Daniel, she is done taking responsibility for the actions of others. “Not as sorry as he’s going to be.” Vala is going to make sure that she has no regrets.    
  
\--   
  
Daniel’s send-off is a bittersweet affair, but Vala tries to help make the best of it. She actually feels she does rather well. It’s interesting how easy it is to be a good and supportive friend once the possibility of a romance is off the table.    
  
Daniel actually takes her aside to thank her.    
  
“I really appreciate all of this. I realize that I haven’t exactly treated you like you deserve over the last year.” She raises an eyebrow, and he ducks his head. “Okay, I’ve basically treated you like crap. There’s not an excuse for it and I’m sorry. And I’m sorry it took so long and a talking-to from Teal’c for me to realize the error of my ways.”    
  
That… made sense. Sometimes Daniel needed someone else to point out what was right in front of him. And Vala found herself oddly unable to hold a grudge -- that was new -- and realizing that nothing he’d done had been  _ intended _ to hurt her. Things had not gone the way that either of them had intended.    
  
“Apology accepted, Daniel. Hopefully this experience will provide a useful learning curve for you in the future… you may yet meet a gorgeous, eligible Ancient on Atlantis. And that is not the sort of woman that you want to piss off.”    
  
They both chuckle, and he looks at her like he’s seeing her for the first time. “You’re amazing,” he says softly, surprising her, “and I’m so proud of you. When you stole the  _ Prometheus _ , I would never have dreamed that you could turn out like this. I’m glad that I was wrong about you.”    
  
His praise warms her. She is beginning to understand what Cam had said all that time ago, about not  _ needing _ anyone’s approval and suddenly having it. It did feel good. “I would never have had any incentive to be better without you.”    
  
“Yeah, maybe. But you’ve outgrown me, Vala; you have the whole universe waiting for you. I wish you the very best.”    
  
“All I have ever wanted for you is the best.” She kisses his cheek gently, words failing her. He’s not dialing out until the morning but this feels like goodbye and she  _ hates _ goodbyes. A part of her is still very scared for things to change.    
  
But the larger part of her is ready. And she will face the change head on with her friends in her corner (no matter where in the galaxy they chose to reside) and her best friend-turned-brother at her side, and a dog name Jackson never more than three steps behind. And that sounds like a pretty amazing life.    
  
_ fin.  _


End file.
